Kevin Spacey Hopes ‘Now’ Shows Attraction of Theater

Actor Kevin Spacey speaks after the premiere of: “NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage” during the Tribeca Film Festival on Monday night.

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If Kevin Spacey hadn’t spent the past 10 years running a London theater and performing in a challenging play every year, he wouldn’t have been prepared to portray the scheming politician Frank Underwood in the Netflix original series “House of Cards,” the actor said at the Tribeca Film Festival.

He spoke Monday night after the world premiere of “NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage,” a documentary about a joint American-British production of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” that the actor performed in a world tour.

Spacey said he hopes that the film answers some of the questions he has been asked about why he spent the past decade as artistic director of the Old Vic when he had a thriving career in Hollywood.

Shakespeare invented the direct address to the audience, which Spacey used in playing both Underwood and Richard. The direct address differs from a monologue because the actor looks directly into the eyes of specific audience members as he delivers it, Spacey noted.

The documentary includes interviews with the cast and crew of the Bridge Project Theatre, a company composed of British and American actors under the leadership of Spacey and Sam Mendes, who directed “Richard III.”

Spacey said the Bridge Project was born out of conversations between him and Mendes, who directed Spacey in the 1999 movie “American Beauty,” which brought them both Oscars.

At one point, they met for lunch in New York, where Mendes, a British director, was working, while Spacey, an American actor and director, was working in London, and they were struck by the connections between their two cultures.

The Bridge Project Theatre company performed “Richard III” about 200 times in 12 cities on three continents during 10 months in 2011 and 2012. The documentary shows the cast in rehearsal and performing in theaters from Sydney to Beijing to Doha, Qatar, as well as in London, New York and San Francisco.

Some of the cast said their favorite venue was the outdoor ancient theater of Epidaurus in Greece. Gemma Jones, a British actress who played Queen Margaret, said her second-favorite theater was in Naples, Italy, even though the dressing rooms were full of vermin. “It felt gritty and real,” she said.

Jeremy Bobb, who grew up in Ohio, said he had never left the U.S. until he toured with “Richard III.” At one point during the documentary, he marvels that he is sailing on a yacht along the Amalfi coast with Spacey.

The film also shows the cast sightseeing at the Great Wall of China and racing cars in the desert.

Jones said she initially was very resistant to the crew filming the documentary, but she called its director, Jeremy Whelehan, extremely seductive and the crew very respectful and discreet.

Whelehan, who had worked as assistant and associate directors on seven Old Vic productions, referred to the filming as “an extraordinary dance,” adding that as the film crew traveled with the actors, they became more like members of the company.

Responding to the perennial question about the health of the theater, Spacey pointed to the financial success of Broadway shows and said the Old Vic had been able to raise a great deal of money. The Bridge Project was underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“As long as people want to tell stories and as long as people want to hear stories, the theater will be alive and well for a long time,” he said.

Answering another question from the audience, Spacey said it is much easier for a cast to become a “family” in the theater than in a movie or TV series because movie and TV schedules depend on the availability of a set or the actors in a particular scene. For instance, he may film three scenes with Michael Gill, who plays the president in “House of Cards,” in two days, then may not see him again for several weeks.

“You don’t spend the amount of time every day with the same group of actors,” he said. “It’s harder to create a company unless you are filming in one location and everyone is in every scene.”

Haydn Gwynne, who played Queen Elizabeth in “Richard III,” pointed to the importance of the rehearsal period in bringing a cast closer. “That is the heart of it.”

Asked for his advice for young actors, Spacey urged them to take a longer view when they go in to audition for a role. Take that opportunity to introduce yourself and your talent to a producer or director and to begin a relationship, rather than worrying about winning the job available that day, which you may not be right for anyway, he said.